BIPOLAR
by PunkRocky
Summary: Bipolar Disorder - A disorder marked by alternating or intermixed periods of mania and depression. Also applicable to Lovino Vargas's life. - Co-Author Ellarose C.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Ah, fuck, I'm late!" Lovino slung his bag over his shoulder and ran out the door of the pizza parlor.

Lovino was late for his first class - on the first day of class, no less. He would have been there on time if not for his bottomless pit of a stomach and the pizza parlor boasting "Authentic New York-style pizza" he passed on his walk to class. The smell wafting out of the restaurant was too tempting to resist, so he ducked inside and ordered two slices of white cheese pizza with whole slices of tomato, grinning as the burly Italian man handed him two slices of pizza bigger than his head.

"_Grazie._"

The burly Italian only grunted and mumbled, "_Prego._"

Lovino had to give it to them; it was some damn good pizza. Not the best he'd ever had, but pretty damn good for an area that had many "authentic" New York pizza parlors, but few that lived up to it. It wasn't until he was halfway done with the second slice that he saw the wall clock and cursed - class started a minute ago. He stuffed the rest of the pizza into his mouth as he ran out of the restaurant, sprinting down the street towards his class's building, pushing his way through the crowds of students returning from class. He got some angry looks and a few choice words, but he just gave the one honorary finger salute back and scurried on.

He stopped in front of the door to his lecture hall and peeked through the window, regaining his breath as he scouted out the situation. The professor had already begun his lecture, from the way he was flailing his arms, and the front half of class was full except for a few front row seats. Fuck, this would be awkward.

Lovino quietly opened the door and shuffled to the back of the room, eyes darting for an easy seat to grab. There - an end seat next to that Greek kid from his history class last semester. As usual, he was asleep, even on the first day of school. Lovino rolled his eyes and sat down, pulling his laptop from his bookbag. As he turned on his computer, he actually listened to the professor to learn he was going over the syllabus. Lovino looked around and saw identical papers on everyone's desk - he'd passed out hard copies at the beginning of class. Oh well, it was probably posted online, anyway. As he was logging into his computer, though, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Lovino turned to find a man with chocolate brown hair, bronze skin and the prettiest fucking green eyes he had ever seen, bending down from the seat behind him.

Holy hell.

It took Lovino a second to register that he was holding out something. Lovino looked down at it - a copy of the syllabus.

"Here, there were extras."

Lovino wanted to say something, but his brain wasn't having it. He finally was able to mumble a "Thanks," but it didn't sound very earnest.

The brunet smiled. "No problem."

Lovino tried to smile back, but all he could manage through his internal freaking out was a half smirk, half frown that made him look creepy instead of the desired "friendly" look he was going for. The brunet just raised an eyebrow and laughed quietly.

Goddamn it, now hot guy was laughing at him. That was just fucking great. He tried to regain his composure as he turned back to his computer. He pretended to check his email as he snuck glances in the reflection of his screen at the brunet. The bastard never dropped his smile once throughout the lecture, and for some reason that crawled under Lovino's skin and bit at him.

_Why's this guy so damn happy? ...Why do I fucking care?_

Lovino continued berating himself as he tried to listen to the lecture and not the hot guy behind him, but before he knew it, he was looking at him again. The brunet was doodling in his notebook and apparently very concentrated on the drawing, the tip of his tongue poking from his lips as he drew. Lovino did _not _find that cute. Nope. Not at all.

God, hot guy probably wasn't even a bad artist. Lovino couldn't even draw stick figures, let alone people. His brother was the artist, he was just… Lovino.

He really didn't pay attention to the professor much, since he was going through the same old first lecture dance - until he got to the explanation of their final - a group project.

"You're going to divide into groups of four to put together a presentation on a psychological disorder of your choice."

Lovino groaned and slumped down in his seat. _Fuck._ He _hated _group projects; there was always that awkward moment where no one asked him to be in their group, but then the professor'd spot him sitting all alone and would find a group down a person for him to join, and they'd stare at him, wondering where the hell he came from and who the hell he was. Then there was that chance that all the group members would end up being lazy assholes that were fucking allergic to work or some shit and he'd have to do the whole fucking project himself-

"Since it's an extensive project, I'd like to get you guys paired off now so you can get started early in the semester. Everyone start breaking up into groups of four, please."

_Fucking great, he had to do this now._

Lovino looked around the room as people got out of their chairs and gathered together in groups. He just sighed and continued to sit as people got up and started talking. He would just wait until everyone paired up before he would have to raise his hand to show that he hadn't been picked yet because he was a loser - hell, maybe he'd just partner up with Greek, since no one was coming over to drag him from his coma. He gave his sleeping neighbor a sneer, then a soft kick, but he didn't even stir. Lovino snorted and rolled his eyes, "checking his email" again to see hot guy behind him now had two friends hovering - a blond guy with a scruffy beard and what _had _to be an albino. They were talking amiably when a black girl with pigtails came up the stairs of the lecture hall, stopping at hot guy's row and putting her hand on her hip.

"Hey, can I be in your group?"

The albino kid huffed. "Fat chance, chick. You fucked us over last time, remember?"

She flipped one of her pigtails over her shoulder. "What the hell're you talking about, Gilbert?"

"Last time we worked with _you_, we ended up doing your part of the project!"

"Hey! You did the same for Antonio, and you're letting him be in your group!"

"Wha- that's different! He's been our friend since, like, we were watching Teletubbies and picking our noses!"

Antonio smiled. "I always really liked Tinky Winky."

The albino kid rolled his eyes. "That's because he was gay. Shut up, Toni."

The girl - Vicky - huffed and crossed her arms.

"Look, it was a bad semester for me! I promise to do my part this time! Francis, you like me, right?"

The blond man just tossed his hair and leaned on top of hot guy's head with a long, overdramatic sigh. Lucky bitch. "I'm sorry, Victoria, but - I think Monique needed someone, if you don't have another group to join."

Victoria looked across the aisle and down a few rows at a girl with a long honey blonde braid talking to two other people. She huffed and pouted at the three boys. "Fine, if you don't want me _that_ much. Go rot in hell." She flicked both pigtails over her shoulders and flounced off.

The albino only shook his head and grinned. "Well, as much fun as it is to be a dick, we still need another group member."

Antonio looked up from his doodle and locked eyes with Lovino in his computer screen reflection, making him jump - shit, he'd been staring again! Lovino snorted and pretended that he didn't notice, but the brunet smiled and tapped him on the shoulder like earlier. Lovino scowled over his shoulder, bringing it up defensively and half hiding behind his hair, but hot guy just beamed.

"Hey! Wanna join us?"

The albino whacked him on the shoulder. "Toni, stop being a moron. You don't even know if he's already got a group."

"Oh!" Antonio shrugged and beamed again at Lovino. "So, do you?"

Lovino scowled, then just frowned and said, "No."

The blond guy smiled and shrugged. "I see no problem with taking in a stray." Lovino made a face at him, making the albino snort, and turned around to sit backwards in his seat.

"Hello, stray," the blond began, "I'm Francis. That one-" he poked the albino's shoulder- "is Gilbert, and _this _one-" he flicked hot guy's forehead, getting dumped off of his armrest for his troubles - "is Antonio."

Antonio batted him away, then gave Lovino his white teeth grin again. "_Hola_!" Gilbert just grunted. Lovino scowled at him, but Antonio piped in, "Oh, don't mind Gil! He just broke up with his girlfriend for, like, the third time today." The albino growled and whacked him on the head hard enough to hurt.

"Shut _up_, Toni! Don't be telling everyone that!"

Antonio apparently was either thick as a brick or deaf as one, since he blabbered on about his friend's personal life. "Yeah, she left him for some Austrian music majo-_oof_!" Gilbert had skipped the smacking and pushed him hard, making Antonio fall sideways and almost drag Francis down with him. Antonio just laughed and pushed him back in a much softer manner.

Francis just sighed. "Cease, heathens." He turned his attention back to Lovino. "So, stray, what can I call you besides 'stray'? Or should I start calling you 'kitten?"

"Do that and you die." Francis chuckled, and Lovino cursed the intimidation factor he hadn't inherited from his grandfather. "I'm Lovino Vargas."

Gilbert froze, held up a finger. "Wait, did you say _Vargas_?"

Lovino narrowed his eyes. _Does he know about 'the family business'?_

"Yeah. Why do you care?"

Gilbert chuckled. "I _knew _you looked familiar! I've got a Vargas dating my little brother, Ludwig - is he, like, your brother or cousin or something?"

Lovino could feel his blood run cold. _Fucking perfect, he's related to that potato bastard_. "Yeah, Feli's my little brother."

Gilbert grinned. "Dude, he can date Ludwig as long as he wants! Kid makes the _best _food, like, oh my God, heaven in my _mouth_."

Lovino couldn't hold back a frown. "Yeah. I know."

Gilbert looked at him curiously before shrugging it off and changing the topic. "Okay minions, we're supposed to pick a brain problem or whatever to research, but fuck that, it's, like, the first day of class and I don't really want to think yet, so we'll figure it out sometime, I don't care. Antonio, you coming over later?"

Antonio grinned. "Of course!"

Gilbert smirked. "Awesome. It's going to be one awesome party! Everyone is going to be there!"

Lovino felt a little awkward listening to them talk about their social lives, since really he didn't have much of one himself. It was hard for him to make friends besides his brother. People didn't seem to like him very much - probably because he was an asshole, but the whole 'my grandfather's a mob boss' tended to scare most people away pretty quick. Only one of the many reasons he was glad to move away from home for college to a place where people wouldn't know about the "family business" paying his tuition.

Francis grinned. "I've invited several female acquaintances to grace us with their appearance at the party. We should be able to have some fun."

Gilbert fist pumped. "Yes! Thanks, Francis, you rock."

Francis only chuckled. "What is a party without the ladies?"

Antonio looked up at Lovino. "Do you go to any parties?"

Lovino jerked from where he'd been analyzing the pattern in the linoleum of the lecture hall floor and up to stare into green eyes. "Huh?" He coughed and tore his gaze away. "Oh. No."

Antonio pouted. "It's all right. You should go to one when you get a chance! Hey, why don't you come to ours?"

Lovino shook his head ferociously. "N-no, it's okay. I already have plans."

Antonio looked at him curiously before returning to his ever-so-annoying perfect smile. "That's too bad. Maybe next time, then?"

Before Lovino could backpedal fast enough to get the fuck out of that conversation, the professor saved his ass with a call for attention from the front well of the lecture hall, "Okay, I think everyone has found a group! Now get back to your seats, we have to finish going over the calendar." Gilbert huffed as he and Francis said their cursory 'see you later's to Antonio and made their way back to their seats toward the front.

Lovino was quite happy to turn back to sit the right way in his seat; he'd had enough social interaction for today. He just wanted to get back to his laptop and finish "checking his email."

….

After the teacher called the class for the day, Lovino quickly packed his things and stood to get the _fuck _out of there when he heard, "Slow down! Why are you in such a hurry?"

Lovino looked back to see Antonio smiling at him, backpack over one shoulder. _Great, he had to fucking talk to me_.

Lovino looked away, "I-I have things to do, that's all."

The brunet giggled. "Well, slow down a bit. You probably don't have to be there in such a hurry."

Lovino just glared at him before mumbling, "Whatever," and making his way out the door. He needed to get far away, quickly, before he felt any more uncomfortable. Things were getting too awkward.

…

Lovino walked into his dorm apartment and dropped his bag by the door. His roommate was sitting at his computer on the far end of the couch, typing away at something. He seemed to always be on the computer - playing video games or chatting with someone when he wasn't out with his boyfriend (Arthur? Merlin? Oh well, something like that). He didn't really hold it against him, since he was an "Interactive Computational Design" major, whatever the fuck that was. Something to do with computers, that's all Lovino knew.

Alfred looked up from his computer and grinned. "What up, Lovi? How's it going?"

Lovino stared at him blankly before falling face-first on the crappy couch. "Eck."

"Aww, the first day of class ain't so bad. You just have to get back into the swing of things."

"_Mnnnngh_."

"It'll get better, I swear. Oh, I have some extra McDonald's if you want it. There was a 'buy one, get one free' deal on Big Macs today!"

Lovino turned his head to the side so he could speak outside of groaning. "No thank you, I don't want to eat that shit. I have some leftover pasta in the fridge."

Alfred laughed, "Suit yourself. If you change your mind, it's on the counter."

Lovino dragged his feet as he made his way toward the fridge. He pulled out his leftover pasta and puttanesca sauce, pouring it all into a bowl and throwing it into the microwave. As he waited for it to heat up, he looked down at the bag of McDonald's on the counter. He cringed as he looked inside. This stuff looked disgusting and unhealthy…but he swiped the fries anyway. Those things were too damn good to resist, especially after drowning them in ketchup. He opened the fridge and pulled out the bottle of ketchup, squirting a liberal amount on top, before beginning to munch on them as his pasta finished reheating. Al smirked at him when he glanced his way, and he just pulled a face in answer.

Once it was done, he took all of it to the couch and sat down, stealing the remote and turning on their crappy television. He flipped through the channels mindlessly until Alfred let out a strangled noise and yelled, "Wha-bu-back up! _The Godfather_! I love that movie!"

Lovino chuckled. "Sure, whatever, I'll leave it here."

….

After they finished watching _The Godfather, _Lovino went to his room and got ready for bed as Alfred continued typing away at his computer. Alfred never seemed to sleep - he was awake on his computer when Lovino went to sleep, and awake on his computer when he left for class in the morning. (One time he woke up to use the bathroom at four in the goddamn morning to find all the lights on in his room and Alfred himself still in his jeans, sprawled across his bed with his laptop open and conked out. Lovino had just shaken his head and turned off his overhead light.)

As he lay down in his bed, though, all he could think about was that fucking hot guy from class. _What the hell? _Lovino sighed. He knew he had to do one thing this semester: _Avoid that guy - Antonio - at all fucking costs._

He was going to drive him crazy if he didn't.

* * *

><p>AN: This was going to be a totally different fic, but Ellarose C. beta'd and turned it into something totally a hundred times better. So much so I decided to make her co-author to give her justice, also because all the Alfred you'll see in this fic is solely written by her.

Please review~ She and I would appreciate it!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Holy Jesus Fucking Christ, shut the fuck _up_!" Lovino screamed as he flung the remote against the wall. Nothing was working. He had turned their crappy TV set all the way up, but not even "The World's Craziest Car Chases Caught On Camera" could drown out the horrible noise. Alfred had proven one thing - that the walls were too goddamn thin. Arthur (yeah, he remembered his name _today_ - he'd only heard it screamed out over and over and _over_ for the past _five lifetimes_ of two hours) came by to "visit" Alfred today, which was Alfred-speak for "have really loud, annoying sex with him". It was two in the afternoon, for fuck's sake! Who has sex at _two in the afternoon_? Lovino could hear every name call, every moan, and every space of hammering _thud, thud, thud_sagainst the living room wall. Lovino had nowhere to escape - it was even worse in his own room, and since it was a weekend, he had no classes he could conveniently go early to.

"_You're just jealous, Lovi!"_ Alfred called through the walls, snickering. It was a sign how far into it they were when Arthur didn't scold him for it, just giggled, their snide laughter turning into hums and the rustlings of a crappy mattress.

"Go to hell!" he yelled back, trying and failing to bury his face in the couch cushions that were closer to Styrofoam than anything else.

Several excruciating minutes later, the thudding stopped and the loud moans and shrieks turned into soft pants and sighs. Lovino was finally able to relax and pick up the remains of the remote to reassemble it, turning down the volume of the TV with it and _finally _getting some peace and fucking quiet. As he was flipping through the movie channels, Alfred emerged from his bedroom in nothing but boxer shorts and a bad case of sex hair. Lovino grunted as he passed by the couch to get to the kitchen, but didn't take his eyes off the TV.

As Alfred was rummaging through the fridge for a Coke, Lovino asked, "So, am I roommates with you or just your sex life?"

"Wha-"

"Why didn't you just room with Arthur officially instead of putting me through Dante's inferno? I mean, he _is_ your boyfriend and shit."

Alfred snorted. leaning back against the counter as he popped open his Coke. "Ever hear the phrase 'don't shit where you eat'? It's better that we're not, trust me."

Lovino frowned. "Not on my end. I'd rather stab myself in the ears than go through more of _that_."

"Relax, Lovi! Arthur and I are just having some fun, y'know?" Alfred took a long gulp of his drink with a shrug Lovino's way. Lovino sneered at him.

"Have "_fun_" on your own time. Preferably when I'm not around."

Alfred made a face as he swallowed, then protested, "Hey, Arthur and I have, like, zero time this semester during the week 'cause of schedule crap! If I could drag him over here while you're out I would, but, well, I can't."

"Why don't you do it at Arthur's place?"

"Because his roommate is there."

Lovino could feel a vein in his forehead pulse. "So you're telling me that you can't do it at his place because _his roommate is there_, but it's completely _fucking _okay for you to do it here while your roommate - _me_ - is fully present?"

Alfred just smiled and patted him on the back. "It's different. We're friends."

Lovino growled, "I see no _fucking_ difference between the two situations."

Alfred laughed. "There is, trust me. You're a lot more awesome."

Lovino wasn't convinced and glared at his unwavering grin as he started to formulate the best plan as to dispose of a dead Alfred. Before he could get past the differences in physical strength, though, something moved in Alfred's bedroom.

"_Alfred, got your arse back in here, now!_"

Alfred giggled. "Coming, sweetie!"

After Alfred returned to his room, enough curses being rained on his head to impress even Lovino, he snatched up his wallet and cell phone and ran from the apartment. He knew what was about to happen (more loud, annoying sex) and he needed to get the _fuck _out of there. On the elevator ride down to the first floor of his building, Lovino heard a weird gurgling in his stomach and frowned down at it, as if he could scowl away the hunger he'd ignored in favor of yelling at his roommate.

(It didn't work, of course.)

Lovino walked down the street toward the restaurant district nearby - the food wasn't too shitty, and the prices were college student friendly. He just needed to decide what he wanted to eat - pasta? pizza? lasagna? He didn't really care at this point, as long as it was tomato-based and gluten-heavy. As he got closer, he pulled out his wallet to see if he was carrying any cash, but, of course, he only had his bank card - he'd have to stop by the ATM first. Fortunately, there was an ATM next to the CVS along the way - it wouldn't take too long to get cash.

Like God would let Lovino's life run that smoothly.

There _had _to be a certain hot guy walking out of the CVS as Lovino fought with the ATM, and he _had _to not notice as this certain guy came from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.. Lovino turned, fists up and ready to punch someone's lights out when he recognized green eyes and a quick smile.

_Oh fuck._

He couldn't run away _now _- he was still only halfway through his first battle, and he had shit to his name without that cash. He could always run away _after _the machine spit out his money and card, but he knew that would just make him look like a jackass. He needed to play it cool or else hot guy would find him even more weird. So he went with the ever so smooth -

"Why the fuck did you come up from behind me like that _at a fucking ATM!_"

Antonio just smiled. "I wanted to say hi!"

Lovino's mind boiled with confusion and stutters, pulling him between smacking him or kissing him on that fucking gorgeous mouth of his. He ended up doing neither, instead turning back to the ATM and punching the buttons on the machine hard enough to hurt. "Don't fucking _do_ that! I thought was gonna get mugged or some shit like that!"

Antonio blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Lovino sighed. "It's okay. Just... _think _next time."

Antonio grinned and revealed his perfect pearly white teeth.

_Fuck you, genetics, for blessing this man with fucking perfect everything._

Antonio leaned in and tapped him lightly on the nose.

"How about you let me take you to lunch as an apology?"

Lovino. Hot guy. Eating at a restaurant together.

_No fucking way in hell._

"N-no! I-I mean, it's okay. Really!" Lovino stuttered.

"Don't be silly. It'll be fun! I know a great gelato place nearby where we can go!"

_No, no, run away- _Wait, did he say gelato?

Lovino squinted. "Are you paying?"

Antonio giggled. "Sure! Why not?"

Lovino was conflicted - on one hand. he needed to get the hell out of there and away from this adorable moron, but on the other... _free gelato_. _Free gelato!_

Lovino sighed.

Ice cream always wins.

Fuck.

…

"Here you go, sir! Enjoy!" the young woman behind the counter said brightly, handing Lovino a small plastic cup full of chocolate gelato with a little spoon.

"Thanks," Lovino mumbled, avoiding eye contact by looking around the store. The gelato shop was tiny, the counter taking up half of the floor space while the left side of the room was crowded with small tables and chairs.

Antonio reached out and placed his hand on Lovino's shoulder, making him jump a little (not that he'd admit that). "Come on! Let's sit over by the window!"

Lovino would have said something - a word or sound of agreement, _something_ - if his brain wasn't busy screaming at him things like _Oh fuck, oh fuck, he's touching me! _Instead, all that came out was a strangled noise as Antonio started pushing him toward a table next to the front window. Lovino plopped down in one of the chairs while Antonio sat across from him.

For a minute, there was an awkward silence of them just eating their gelato. Lovino struggled, trying to think of a way to start up the conversation, but all that he could think up was kinda boring -_ "So the weather is kind of warm for this time of year?" _was a shit conversation starter.

It wasn't until Antonio spoke up that the silence broken.

"So... what's your major?"

Shit. "I'm kind of, uh, undecided."

Antonio cocked his head in curiosity. "Really? What year are you?"

"I'm a sophomore."

"Wow, shouldn't you have declared a major already?"

Lovino looked down and stared at the patterns in the floor tiles. He felt like a loser - he really had no idea what he wanted to do. Considering his family history, everyone assumed that he would take over the "family business" when he got older, but the idea just made him itch.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I dunno. I just thought people're supposed know what they wanna do by now."

Lovino snapped, "I just don't know what I want to do yet, okay? Why do people always give me shit for it?"

Antonio bit his lip and looked down at his half-eaten gelato. Lovino scowled up at him, then sighed in defeat at the look on his face.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to snap on you like that. I just haven't figured out what I want to do with my life yet, that's all."

A grin spread across Antonio's face immediately. "Hey, no big deal, people change majors most of the time anyway, and it's not everyone knows _exactly_ what they want to do with their life in college!" The conversation lulled as they both took another scoop of their gelato.

Lovino needed to keep the conversation going or he was going to scream.

"So, what's your major, then?"

"Management," he said in between scoops. A little bit of melted ice cream dripped from the corner of his mouth.

According to Freud, we all suffer inner turmoil between our id, ego, and superego - basic instincts, your conscious, and your morality, respectively. Lovino's id, for some reason, was screaming at him to bend in and lick that damn cream off, but his ego and superego were telling him that was probably very much a horrible idea. So he just stared at it instead.

Antonio cocked his head to the side. "You okay?"

Lovino snapped back to reality and turned red. "O-oh, yeah, I'm fine. Cool. Um, why are you in a psych class, then?"

"I still have to take care of some of my core classes, and this was one of them. Besides, Francis and Gilbert are in it, so I get to have class with them!"

"So... how long have you guys known each other?"

"We've been friends since, like, forever! We were in kindergarten together and been friends ever since."  
>"Great."<p>

"So Feli is your little brother? I met him when I went to visit Gil one time! He's so sweet - and cute!"

Lovino could feel his blood run cold. Great, _fucking great, _even hot guy is charmed by his little brother.

Lovino frowned. "Yep. Feli is fucking perfect. Tell me something I _don't _know."

Antonio looked surprised. He didn't know talking about his brother would piss him off so much.

"I-I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

Strike two. Lovino was on a roll with snapping at hot guy today.

Lovino took a deep breath.

"Sorry, I don't mean to snap at you so much. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"Aww. Did you sleep all right last night?"

"Well, yeah, but I couldn't take my nap this afternoon because my damned roommate decided to fuck his boyfriend all fucking day long."

Antonio burst into laughter. "Really? That sucks! What did you do?"

"I yelled at him to shut the hell up, of course, but he's an asshole, so I left and came out here to get something to eat. ...What the hell were you doing over here, anyway?"

"Oh, I just needed to pick some stuff up at CVS, but then I saw you, so I thought, why not? I'll go say hi!" Antonio grinned.

He seemed to do that a lot.

"Are you always this happy?"

"_Si, Siempre estoy feliz_."

"How the hell do you manage that?"

"I don't know, just how I am, I guess." He giggled.

"So, I'm guessing from the Spanish that you're Hispanic - what the hell are you, exactly?"

"My family's from Madrid, so I guess you can say I'm Spanish." Well, that accounted for the sexy as fuck accent. "You're not exactly American, either - your name's too different. Italian?" Antonio asked.

"Sicilian, for your information."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No, it's different."

"Okay... I'll take your word for it."

Lovino felt like he should lighten the mood somehow, since he'd already fucked it up enough. Maybe he could at least show that he wasn't a _total _asshole.

"Uh, thanks for the gelato. You really didn't have to buy it for me."

Antonio smiled. "No, it's okay. It's my pleasure, honestly. I like hanging out with you!"

Lovino gagged.

Antonio leaned over and started frantically patting him on his back.

"You alright, _amigo_?"

Lovino coughed. "Yeah... just went down the wrong pipe. I'll be okay."

Antonio smiled for the hundredth goddamn time that day. "Awesome. I was worried there for a second."

Lovino tried to regain his composure by changing the subject from him almost dying by choking on gelato.

"So, you actually _like _hanging out with me?"

"Sure! You seem like a fun guy!"

Lovino didn't know what to say. Not many people found him "fun", especially people as hot as this guy.

Oh, what the hell, never look a gift horse in the mouth and whatnot

"Hey, do you wanna-"

"-_And that's why they call me, bad company, I can't deny! Bad, bad company, until the day I die..._"  
>Lovino frowned.<em> What the hell?<em>

Antonio pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and answered. "Hello? Oh hey Francis!"

_Great, of course that French bastard would ruin the moment._

"...What? Okay, I'll be there in, like... twenty minutes? I'm out right now. Okay! See ya there!" He hung up and looked back over toward Lovino.

"Sorry, I gotta run. Francis needs me for something, but hey, it's been nice hanging out with you!"

Lovino tried not to scowl, but he wasn't doing a great job. "Yeah, same. Nice seeing ya."

Antonio got out of his seat and walked toward the door, but stopped a few steps away and looked back at Lovino with a grin. "By the way, you're just as cute as your brother, especially when you get all red in the face - like right now! You look like a tomato!"

Lovino threw his spoon at the idiot. "Shut the hell up!"

Antonio just laughed as he dodged the little plastic spoon. "See ya later, Lovino!"

Lovino sat there, staring daggers at the remnants of his gelato.

_Goddamn it._

* * *

><p>Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review~<p>

EDIT: Thanks to P3 LadyChaos for fixing my horribly mangled Spanish~


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lovino stared at the entrance to the classroom as the stragglers dragged themselves in. He fiddled with the bent corner of his notebook as he waited - for what, he didn't know. Scratch that. He _knew _what,he just didn't want to admit it. He practically perked up every time he saw a mop of brown hair and bronzed skin as he walked around campus, sighing when he realized it wasn't _him_. He found it rather odd, because when he actually saw him, all he wanted to do is run the hell away.

He turned his gaze away from his abused notebook and back to the entrance when he heard a loud cackling laugh. He sat up straighter in his seat; that bastard albino kid was walking through the door, followed by the French bastard. His heart sank as he noticed that Antonio was not close behind.

_That's strange. _

Antonio usually would be with the other two when he came to class. Lovino sighed. Disappointing – he'd hate to admit it but he was actually looking forward to find any excuse possible to look at him during lecture. He checked his watch - class would start in two minutes. He leaned back in his chair and waited for the professor to load up his PowerPoint. Lovino pulled out his computer and booted it up as the professor gave the introductory information on substance abuse. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone quietly slipping into the classroom, and Lovino glanced over to see the familiar messy dark brown hair. He was wearing sunglasses and looked a little worn for wear with his hair was sticking up in awkward places and wearing a faded gray shirt and sweatpants. It was obvious he had had a rough morning. Ironically, Lovino found it rather attractive. Even though he had just clearly rolled out of bed, he was still quite..._adorable. _Antonio turned toward Lovino's direction and noticed him staring; he grinned and waved and mouthed a _hello!_ Lovino could feel the blood rush to his cheeks, and he snapped his attention back to his laptop. Antonio waved toward Gilbert and Francis as he placed his bookbag beside his seat.

Lovino stared at the reflection in his laptop screen. Antonio leaned back in his seat and lifted his arms above his head in a stretch. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Lovino, the shirt he was wearing was a tad bit short and when he leaned back into a stretch, his abdomen was exposed in all its tanned glory. It was a glorious three seconds. Antonio worked out, as Lovino could tell by the toned, rippled abs he was sporting, and he had a patch of hair leading down his stomach into his sweat pants. Lovino could imagine himself running his hand down his abdomen, slowly making his way over his navel and finally-

Lovino gulped.

_Well fuck. _

He was fucking having dirty daydreams about this bastard _in the middle of lecture_. This needed to stop. He frantically opened a word document and started typing up whatever might be considered "notes" of the lecture. He needed to focus on something else, something preferably that wouldn't make his pants uncomfortably tight in the middle of class. The professor was in the middle of talking about withdrawals in alcohol dependence. Perfect - vomiting and the shakes weren't arousing at all.

He was able to make it through most of the lecture without getting distracted, but when the professor had finished the last slide and he glanced at the clock at the bottom corner of his computer screen, there were still about thirty minutes left in class. Lovino prayed that he would let them go early today, but, of course, he wasn't that lucky. The professor exited out of the PowerPoint and walked in front of the podium.

"Now, since we finished early, this would be a great time to get into your groups and start talking about your presentations. Topics are due by the end of the week. So if you would please break off into your groups now..."

Lovino rolled his eyes and groaned.

_Awesome._

The class was filled with the sound of chairs scraping against the floor as people started to assemble into their groups. Francis and Gilbert came to Lovino and Antonio's desks, so Lovino awkwardly turned around in his seat to face the hot idiot behind him. Antonio took off his sunglasses and revealed a pair of bright green eyes. He (of course) was grinning ear to ear and cheerful as ever.

"How are you today?" Antonio chirped.

"Er…um, I'm fine. Uh, how are you doing, I guess?"

"I'm doing great! Oh, hey guys!"

Lovino looked up to find the other two standing next to their desks. Gil slipped around the back of Toni's chair and sat on the edge of his desk, punching his shoulder lightly.

"What's up, Toni? Glad you could make it today. Didn't think you'd even wake up after last night."

Antonio smiled up at him. "Yea, I woke up pretty late, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Took some aspirin and ran out the door! By the time I got here, I was feeling a little better."

Francis chuckled and sat on the other side of the desk.

"That's what happens after six shots of tequila."

"Yea, I know. It was fun, though - especially Gil and Matt singing karaoke together!"

Gilbert groaned. "Let's not talk about that."

"Aww, c'mon, Gil, you guys were pretty good! I loved you two's '_Teardrops on My Guitar_'-"

"Shut up Toni! We did _not _sing that stupid song."

Francis snorted. "I beg to differ, and I have video evidence to prove otherwise."

Gilbert squinted. "If that ends up on the internet, I'll _kill _you both."

"Oh it won't… _for now_."

Gilbert grunted, then checked his watch. "Speaking of Mattie, I've got to leave in, like, ten to meet up with him. We're ditching today. Gonna go fishing."

"For your ex-girlfriend's rebound from _you_, you two are pretty close," Francis said .

"Dude, he has _a boat_. I can't pass this up. Besides, she's dumped both of us now, so whatever."

"Well, okay. Whatever makes you happy."

Lovino crossed his arms and stared at the floor, feeling surlier than usual and left out of this personal-life chitchat. Gilbert glanced over and snorted at him.

"What's up your ass kid?"

"None your business."

"Touchy, aren't we?"

"Leave him alone, Gil."

Antonio looked across his desk at Lovino frowning, leaning his forearms on the back of his seat, and he cocked his head to the side.

"Are you all right, Lovino?"

The look of concern on Antonio's face threw Lovino off guard and caused his stomach do an unsuspected flip.

"I-I'm fine. Th-thank you." He tried to smile, but it came out as a half smirk - but by the grin on Antonio's face, the point was made.

France and Gilbert glanced at each other and smirked. Gilbert started laughing.

"Kid, you're so bipolar."

Lovino's smile fell off his face.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Dude, you're totally bipolar. Like, seriously. One minute you're look like you're going to murder someone and the next you're smiling like a doofus."

"Huh? Wha- whatever, I'm not bipolar. That's fucking stupid."

"I sense someone is in denial," Francis teased.

"I am not! Shut the fuck up, _now_!" Lovino growled.

"Whatever, dude. That's what you say." Gilbert snickered, but then his eyes lit up and he pumped a fist in the air.

"Fuck yes! I've got our topic for this shitty project. Bipolar disorder!"

Francis shrugged. "Sounds decent enough."

"Since I gotta split…" Gilbert hopped off the desk and tore out a strip of paper from Antonio's notebook, stealing his pen to scratch something down before turning the paper toward Antonio.

"Toni, put down your number, and you too, Francis. We have each other's, but buddy here doesn't."

Lovino watched as Antonio scribbled down his name and number before he passed it off to Francis. He quickly wrote down his own information and shoved it in Lovino's direction. Lovino picked up the piece of paper and stared, rereading the second number over and over. He studied the loops and swirls of Antonio's cursive, his name written neatly next to his ten digit number. He reread it over and over, internalizing it. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the chirp of a cell phone. Gilbert pulled out his phone from his back pocket, pausing to look at the screen. He quickly tapped away at the keyboard before closing it back up with a snap.

"Okay, just got a text from Matt. He's waiting for me with the boat. Catch the three of you later!" He jumped down the lecture hall's stairs to his desk, slinging his backpack on his shoulders on the way and practically skipped out the door.

"Well if Gilbert is leaving, then there's no reason for me to stay. Antonio, are you coming?" Francis asked, standing and straightening his clothes unnecessarily.

Antonio shrugged. "Sure! Why not?"

Lovino couldn't help but feel a bit deflated as Antonio started packing his bag. Lovino turned back around in his seat and turned his attention back to his computer. He was refreshing his email when he felt a pair of arms snake around his shoulders. Antonio had come up from behind and landed a surprise hug.

"Bye Lovi! I hope you have a good day!"

"G-get off me, you bastard!"

Toni only giggled as he followed Francis out of the classroom.

Lovino banged his forehead against his keyboard. His whole face flushed two shades of red; he could feel the blood rushing to his ears.

_Fuck me._

Lovino dropped his bookbag on the floor and plopped down on his bed. His head was pounding and his eyes were aching in his skull. After Abnormal Psychology with Antonio and the others, classes seemed to have run longer than usual, and everyone just wanted to piss him off today. He had three tests next week and tons of homework to do. He wanted to punch a wall, but he knew if he did, he would be paying some heavy damage fees - or a doctor's bill. He contented himself with popping three aspirins and lying down in his bed. Of course, his silence was broken by the sound of Alfred banging open his bedroom door.

"What's up, Lovi?"

He groaned into his pillow loudly. "You look like hell, man. You feeling bad?"

Lovino turned his head to face his roommate. "Well, no _shit,_Sherlock."

Alfred chuckled. "I'm sorry, buddy. Take a nap."

"I was _trying _to until you barged into the room!"

"Sorry bro, I was just checking up on ya!"

"Thanks, _Mom_, but I'm fine. Go away."

Alfred smiled. "Sure, whatever. By the way, what's for dinner?"

Lovino rolled his eyes and groaned, "I don't know, fatass. I'll make it later. Now leave me alone."

Alfred giggled as he quietly (for once!) shut the door.

Lovino rolled over and relaxed as he relished the silence. Finally - a break.

Then his ring tone started to blare from his bag.

Lovino groaned._ Holy mother of God, can I get a fucking break?_

Lovino whined as he opened his bag to find his brother's name flashing across the screen.

Lovino sighed and cursed as he finally answered.

"Hello?"

"_Hey Lovi! How are you?_"

Lovino pulled the phone away from his ear.

"God, Feli! Don't scream into the phone. I don't need you to blow out my ear drum. I already have a headache!"

"_Oops. Sorry Lovi. Are you feeling well?_"

"I'm fine, Feli. What's up?"

"_I was just calling to tell you Grandpa and I will be coming by for a visit tomorrow! He wants to take us out to dinner!_"

Lovino's breath hitched.

"Wait, what? Grandpa is coming..._tomorrow_."

"_Yep! Isn't it wonderful? He want's to see you and stuff since he didn't get a chance last semester._"

"Goddamn it. Feli, why didn't you tell me earlier!"

"_...I forgot?_"

"Jesus Christ! Ugh, okay, that's fine. Just..." He sighed. "Just tell me earlier next time, okay?"

"_I'm sorry, Lovi._"

"It's okay, Feli. I got to go. I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"_Okay, I love you, brother!_"

"Love you too, Feli."

With that, Lovino hung up the phone. Lovino stared at his home screen for a few seconds before throwing his phone against the wall and sprawling across his bed.

Today just couldn't get any better, could it?


End file.
